"An instructional model is a step-by-step procedure that leads to specific learning outcomes. The models of teaching approach emphasizes the need for variety in the classroom, which can only be accomplished by developing the teacher’s repertoire of instructional approaches to meet a range of objectives. The teacher who utilizes a variety of instructional approaches is more likely to reach all students in the classroom; moreover, students are encouraged to learn in a variety of ways", an ever-growing concern in the diverse classroom of the 21st century.
I "realize that the instructional models may have variation, but I have found that when a functional planning process is not utilized, this is when educators have difficult learning new instructional techniques. So-called teacher proof curricula that mandates what the teacher is to do in the classroom fails to credit the critical importance of the teacher's role and ability to use professional judgement to teach his or her students. There is no prepackaged curriculum--including textbooks--that a good teacher cannot make significantly" better through the use of instructional models. [Citation Below]
Instructional Approaches This resource provides an explanation towards the approaches of instruction to be used in the classroom. The resource's intention is " to encourage teachers to examine their own instructional practices. Reflection on the use of strategies, methods and skills may lead teachers to broaden and deepen their repertoires of instructional practice. Expanding one's repertoire of instructional approaches," in this source's opinion, "enhances instructional effectiveness."
In encouraging teachers to examine their own instructional practices, this resource provides the viewer with a variety of information, including: how the instructional framework is used, the relationship between instructional models, instructional strategies that can b e used in conjunction with instructional models, as well as effective learning practices that can result from using these structures. This is a good resource to visit if a teacher is having difficultly determining what kind of instructional model should be used to teach a specific content.
Instructional Strategies This resource is an online index of instructional strategies and models that one can use to improve the overall effectiveness of their teaching in the classroom. The resources are listed by alphabetized links and range from topics such as anticipation guides, brainstorming, and field trips to web quests and the concept attainment instructional model. Upon clicking one of these links, the viewer is redirected to a topics page that provides a definition and purpose for the specific topic, an explanation on how to use it, along with a list of resources that a teacher can use to make use of the specific topic in his or her classroom.
This website is especially rich for the fact that instructional models and strategies are easily accessible. The left side bar breaks content into nine categories: direct instruction, indirect instruction, experiential learning, independent study, interactive instruction, instructional skills, instructional methods--alphabetized, and instructional methods--by strategy. This organization allows for easy searching and exposure to pedagogically specific ideas that will work in a classroom.
This resource provides a directory of teaching and instructional models for teachers. These teaching models break instruction down into categories: top-down models, blend from "direct to social", "social models", student-teacher negotiated models, blend of "social to radical" models, and bottom-up models.
This resource explains that "teaching models prescribe tested steps and procedures to effectively generate desired outcomes." This resource suggests that student-directed models required considerably more interested and effort from the students and are criticized for consuming a lot of class time to cover small amount of information at greater depths. A greater chance exists for higher-level thinking via student-directed models, however. Social models provide a common ground between the two extremes."
Instructional Models
Below is a collection of resources that refer to specific instructional models that are used to instruct students in a variety of settings. Some of the instructional models make use of direct instruction and use a teacher-centered style to assist student's learning of the information. Other instructional models make sure of indirect instruction, creating a student-centered learning environment for students to learn in. Each of the instructional models offers its unique strengths when teaching content to students. I have used many of these instructional models in creating lessons found in unit [see the My Lesson Plans page].
This resource provides an overview that defines and explains what direction instruction is and recommends possible methods that can be used to make use of the direct instruction model. "The direct instruction model is one of the most widely used and helpful deductive strategies. Direct instruction allows teachers to impart information or skills straightforwardly to their students and to help students master strategies for learning. The direct instruction format if flexible, and because one of the teacher's primary responsibilities is to present information, it fills a vital need in most classrooms. Particularly, in today's climate, when most teachers feel pressure to help students to master standards in an efficient manner, direct instruction is popular."*
This specific resource provides an overview about what direct instruction is as well as offers methods that can be used to be used in conjunction with direct instruction to maximize effectiveness. Methods include: a structured overview, a lecture, explicit teaching, drill and practice, compare and contrast, didactic questioning and demonstrations.
This resource provides an overview that defines and explains what inquiry training is and provides teacher resources that are available online that can be used to effectively employ inquiry training instructional model. "Inquiry training assists students in asking questions that help them move from the observation of facts to the development of theories. This strategy's power resides both in the way that it capitalizes on students' natural curiosity--the need to know--and in the fact that puts students in the questioner's seat. Usually students in classrooms are expected to answer the questions, not to ask them. Asking a question can propel learning."*
This specific resource explains that inquiry training is a combination of deductive and inductive inquiry. Through the use of both of these inquiry methods, students develop ways to search for answers and generate explanations to related questions. Emphasis is placed o the process of thinking it applies to student interaction with issues, data, topics, concepts, materials, and problems.
This resource provides an overview that defines and explains what concept attainment is, provides a step-by-step process, an example, and a template that can be used to effectively make use of the concept attainment model. Concept attainment makes use of inductive teaching to foster students' ability to discover patterns, impose structure and reveal important ideas by working with concrete data.
Concept attainment provides students with "the ability to categorize information is central to the processes of discovery. Categorization, or grouping items into classes, serves a number of important functions: it reduces the complexity of our environments, it helps us identify individual objects, it makes learning more efficient, it helps us make decisions without the need of tests every object's properties, and allows us to relate and order classes of events....The concept attainment model makes categorization schemes explicit and guides students to consider information conceptually toward the aim of categorizing information meaningfully." *
This resource provides a detailed explanation of the learning cycle instructional model with a special focus on the five steps that are essential in making the learning cycle instructional model effective: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. As in any cycle, there is really no end to the process. After elaboration ends, the engagement of the next learning cycle begins. Evaluation is never the last step in the cycle.
"The learning cycle approach is inductive that in moves from firsthand experiences to well-formulated understanding of the content and real-world application. It is based on constructivist learning theory that defines learning as both the process and the result of questioning and interpreting, the application of thought processes and information to build and improve our understandings, and the integration of current experiences with past experiences." *
This resource provides an explanation of what concept formation is, what the purpose of using concept formation is, and then offers instruction on how to do use the instructional model in the classroom. The remaining part of the resource is a section labeled "teacher resources", which provides links that provide how to teach concept formation in the classroom and sample lesson that make use of this instructional model in lessons.
"Often deemed 'list-group-label', concept formation should increase students' ability to process information. Students begin by developing extensive lists of data related to a topic or question. Next, they group the data based on criteria they select, and they develop labels for their groups. The labels of the groups convey a concept or a generalization. Oftentimes students are asked to re-sort data in different ways. Lessons often conclude with students using the information in a new way, such as by composing an explanatory paragraph." *
This resource explains what the cooperative learning instructional model is, what it's purpose is, how to use it, how to adapt it, as well as resource links to assessment and evaluation considerations as well as teacher resources. These resources include group social skills checklist templates, cooperative self evaluations, cooperative project evaluations, cooperative learning lesson templates and cooperative learning lesson samples.
"In cooperative learning lessons, students are expected to help each other learn as they work together in small groups. Groups can be temporary or yearlong. Frequently, cooperative learning groups include four members, but other configurations can also exist. Cooperative learning is more than simply assigning students to work together and then issuing group grades. According to proponents cooperative learning needs to accomplish three basic principles:
This resource explains what problem solving is, what the purpose of problem solving is, how teachers can do it, and how it can be adapted. This resource explains that "there are two major types of problem solving --reflective and creative. Regardless of the type of problem solving a class uses, problem solving focuses on knowing the issues, considering all possible factors and finding a solution. Because all ideas are accepted initially, problem solving allows for finding the best possible solution as opposed to the easiest solution or the first solution proposed."
A description of each type of problem, from the website, are below:
"Reflective problem solving follows a series of tasks. Once you have broken the students into groups, the students define the problem, analyze the problem, establish the criteria for evaluating solutions, propose solutions, and take action."
"Creative problem solving uses the same basic focus, but the process is less geared towards solutions are more towards a focus on brainstorming. The focus is on creating ideas rather than solving a clear existing problem. Sometimes the problem is ore-defined, and the group must focus on understanding the definition rather than creating it." *
K-12 Classroom Teaching: A Primer for New Professionals
This resource is located in your "Student Teaching Documents" folder. This resource provides information on deductive and inductive strategies that can be used in the classroom to instruct students. After discussing how and why strategies should be used during instruction, Guillaume provides "A Sampling of Instructional Models, which include the following instructional models:
An explanation of each instructional model is provided, followed by a discussion of the strengths and criticisms, as well as a sample of how each instructional model is used is provided. At the end of the chapter, there are blank formats pertaining to each instructional model that provides an open, body, and close and the components that construct each part of the format.
"An instructional model is a step-by-step procedure that leads to specific learning outcomes. The models of teaching approach emphasizes the need for variety in the classroom, which can only be accomplished by developing the teacher’s repertoire of instructional approaches to meet a range of objectives. The teacher who utilizes a variety of instructional approaches is more likely to reach all students in the classroom; moreover, students are encouraged to learn in a variety of ways", an ever-growing concern in the diverse classroom of the 21st century.
I "realize that the instructional models may have variation, but I have found that when a functional planning process is not utilized, this is when educators have difficult learning new instructional techniques. So-called teacher proof curricula that mandates what the teacher is to do in the classroom fails to credit the critical importance of the teacher's role and ability to use professional judgement to teach his or her students. There is no prepackaged curriculum--including textbooks--that a good teacher cannot make significantly" better through the use of instructional models. [Citation Below]
Table of Contents
In General
Instructional Approaches
This resource provides an explanation towards the approaches of instruction to be used in the classroom. The resource's intention is " to encourage teachers to examine their own instructional practices. Reflection on the use of strategies, methods and skills may lead teachers to broaden and deepen their repertoires of instructional practice. Expanding one's repertoire of instructional approaches," in this source's opinion, "enhances instructional effectiveness."
In encouraging teachers to examine their own instructional practices, this resource provides the viewer with a variety of information, including: how the instructional framework is used, the relationship between instructional models, instructional strategies that can b
e used in conjunction with instructional models, as well as effective learning practices that can result from using these structures. This is a good resource to visit if a teacher is having difficultly determining what kind of instructional model should be used to teach a specific content.
Instructional Strategies
This resource is an online index of instructional strategies and models that one can use to improve the overall effectiveness of their teaching in the classroom. The resources are listed by alphabetized links and range from topics such as anticipation guides, brainstorming, and field trips to web quests and the concept attainment instructional model. Upon clicking one of these links, the viewer is redirected to a topics page that provides a definition and purpose for the specific topic, an explanation on how to use it, along with a list of resources that a teacher can use to make use of the specific topic in his or her classroom.
This website is especially rich for the fact that instructional models and strategies are easily accessible. The left side bar breaks content into nine
categories: direct instruction, indirect instruction, experiential learning, independent study, interactive instruction, instructional skills, instructional methods--alphabetized, and instructional methods--by strategy. This organization allows for easy searching and exposure to pedagogically specific ideas that will work in a classroom.
Teaching models
This resource provides a directory of teaching and instructional models for teachers. These teaching models break instruction down into categories: top-down models, blend from "direct to social", "social models", student-teacher negotiated models, blend of "social to radical" models, and bottom-up models.This resource explains that "teaching models prescribe tested steps and procedures to effectively generate desired outcomes." This resource suggests that student-directed models required considerably more interested and effort from the students and are criticized for consuming a lot of class time to cover small amount of information at greater depths. A greater chance exists for higher-level thinking via student-directed models, however. Social models provide a common ground between the two extremes."
Instructional Models
Below is a collection of resources that refer to specific instructional models that are used to instruct students in a variety of settings. Some of the instructional models make use of direct instruction and use a teacher-centered style to assist student's learning of the information. Other instructional models make sure of indirect instruction, creating a student-centered learning environment for students to learn in. Each of the instructional models offers its unique strengths when teaching content to students. I have used many of these instructional models in creating lessons found in unit [see the My Lesson Plans page].
Direct Instruction
This resource provides an overview that defines and explains what direction instruction is and recommends possible methods that can be used to make use of the direct instruction model. "The direct instruction model is one of the most widely used and helpful deductive strategies. Direct instruction allows teachers to impart information or skills straightforwardly to their students and to help students master strategies for learning. The direct instruction format if flexible, and because one of the teacher's primary responsibilities is to present information, it fills a vital need in most classrooms. Particularly, in today's climate, when most teachers feel pressure to help students to master standards in an efficient manner, direct instruction is popular."*This specific resource provides an overview about what direct instruction is as well as offers methods that can be used to be used in conjunction with direct instruction to maximize effectiveness. Methods include: a structured overview, a lecture, explicit teaching, drill and practice, compare and contrast, didactic questioning and demonstrations.
*
Inquiry Training
This resource provides an overview that defines and explains what inquiry training is and provides teacher resources that are available online that can be used to effectively employ inquiry training instructional model. "Inquiry training assists students in asking questions that help them move from the observation of facts to the development of theories. This strategy's power resides both in the way that it capitalizes on students' natural curiosity--the need to know--and in the fact that puts students in the questioner's seat. Usually students in classrooms are expected to answer the questions, not to ask them. Asking a question can propel learning."*This specific resource explains that inquiry training is a combination of deductive and inductive inquiry. Through the use of both of these inquiry methods, students develop ways to search for answers and generate explanations to related questions. Emphasis is placed o the process of thinking it applies to student interaction with issues, data, topics, concepts, materials, and problems.
*
Concept Attainment
This resource provides an overview that defines and explains what concept attainment is, provides a step-by-step process, an example, and a template that can be used to effectively make use of the concept attainment model. Concept attainment makes use of inductive teaching to foster students' ability to discover patterns, impose structure and reveal important ideas by working with concrete data.Concept attainment provides students with "the ability to categorize information is central to the processes of discovery. Categorization, or grouping items into classes, serves a number of important functions: it reduces the complexity of our environments, it helps us identify individual objects, it makes learning more efficient, it helps us make decisions without the need of tests every object's properties, and allows us to relate and order classes of events....The concept attainment model makes categorization schemes explicit and guides students to consider information conceptually toward the aim of categorizing information meaningfully." *
*
Learning Cycles
This resource provides a detailed explanation of the learning cycle instructional model with a special focus on the five steps that are essential in making the learning cycle instructional model effective: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. As in any cycle, there is really no end to the process. After elaboration ends, the engagement of the next learning cycle begins. Evaluation is never the last step in the cycle."The learning cycle approach is inductive that in moves from firsthand experiences to well-formulated understanding of the content and real-world application. It is based on constructivist learning theory that defines learning as both the process and the result of questioning and interpreting, the application of thought processes and information to build and improve our understandings, and the integration of current experiences with past experiences." *
*
Concept Formation
This resource provides an explanation of what concept formation is, what the purpose of using concept formation is, and then offers instruction on how to do use the instructional model in the classroom. The remaining part of the resource is a section labeled "teacher resources", which provides links that provide how to teach concept formation in the classroom and sample lesson that make use of this instructional model in lessons."Often deemed 'list-group-label', concept formation should increase students' ability to process information. Students begin by developing extensive lists of data related to a topic or question. Next, they group the data based on criteria they select, and they develop labels for their groups. The labels of the groups convey a concept or a generalization. Oftentimes students are asked to re-sort data in different ways. Lessons often conclude with students using the information in a new way, such as by composing an explanatory paragraph." *
*
Cooperative Learning
This resource explains what the cooperative learning instructional model is, what it's purpose is, how to use it, how to adapt it, as well as resource links to assessment and evaluation considerations as well as teacher resources. These resources include group social skills checklist templates, cooperative self evaluations, cooperative project evaluations, cooperative learning lesson templates and cooperative learning lesson samples."In cooperative learning lessons, students are expected to help each other learn as they work together in small groups. Groups can be temporary or yearlong. Frequently, cooperative learning groups include four members, but other configurations can also exist. Cooperative learning is more than simply assigning students to work together and then issuing group grades. According to proponents cooperative learning needs to accomplish three basic principles:
1. Positive Interdependence
2. Individual Accountability
3. Simultaneous Interaction
A fourth principle is equal participation. Students need to make balanced contribution to the group's work."*
*
Reflective and Creative Problem Solving
This resource explains what problem solving is, what the purpose of problem solving is, how teachers can do it, and how it can be adapted. This resource explains that "there are two major types of problem solving --reflective and creative. Regardless of the type of problem solving a class uses, problem solving focuses on knowing the issues, considering all possible factors and finding a solution. Because all ideas are accepted initially, problem solving allows for finding the best possible solution as opposed to the easiest solution or the first solution proposed."A description of each type of problem, from the website, are below:
"Reflective problem solving follows a series of tasks. Once you have broken the students into groups, the students define the problem, analyze the problem, establish the criteria for evaluating solutions, propose solutions, and take action."
"Creative problem solving uses the same basic focus, but the process is less geared towards solutions are more towards a focus on brainstorming. The focus is on creating ideas rather than solving a clear existing problem. Sometimes the problem is ore-defined, and the group must focus on understanding the definition rather than creating it."
*
K-12 Classroom Teaching: A Primer for New Professionals
This resource is located in your "Student Teaching Documents" folder. This resource provides information on deductive and inductive strategies that can be used in the classroom to instruct students. After discussing how and why strategies should be used during instruction, Guillaume provides "A Sampling of Instructional Models, which include the following instructional models:
1. Direct Instruction
2. Inquiry Training
3. Concept Attainment
4. Learning Cycle
5. Concept Formation
6. Unguided Inquiry
7. Cooperative Learning
An explanation of each instructional model is provided, followed by a discussion of the strengths and criticisms, as well as a sample of how each instructional model is used is provided. At the end of the chapter, there are blank formats pertaining to each instructional model that provides an open, body, and close and the components that construct each part of the format.
Instructional Model Introduction Quotes: Gunter, Estes, and Schwab . "What are Models of Instruction." Writers Block. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2011. <http://www.writers-blocks.com/what_are_models_of_instruction.htm>.
*Quotations for instructional models: Guillaume, A. M. (2011). K-12 classroom teaching: A primer for new professionals. (Fourth ed.). Boston: Pearson.